Exploring the development of progressive construction in Chinese and Japanese EFL writing: A usage-based approachExploring the development of progressive construction in Chinese and Japanese EFL writing: A usage-based approach

Abstract: This study investigates the developmental trajectory of progressive construction among Chinese and Japanese EFL learners through a usage-based approach. A total of 600 written essays, produced by EFL learners from China and Japan with proficiency levels ranging from elementary to upper-intermediate, were analyzed. The findings reveal that advanced EFL learners, irrespective of their L1 backgrounds, exhibit higher productivity in using progressive constructions, aligning more closely with native English speakers. Moreover, the results support the aspect hypothesis, as activity verbs are predominantly marked with progressive across all learner groups. As for the development of progressive construction, less prototypical verb types in progressives increase proportionally with proficiency levels in the top 10 contingencies. However, discrepancies in proportions among Chinese and Japanese EFL learners underscore the need for a further examination of the intricate patterns of non-prototypical form-meaning associations across L1 backgrounds. The present study bears significance in shedding light on the acquisition of tense-aspect morphology influenced by L1 transfer and learner proficiency.

摘要： 本研究采用基于使用的方法，考察中国和日本 EFL 学习者进行体构式的发展轨迹。研究分析了中日两国 EFL 学习者撰写的 600 篇作文，学习者水平从初级到中高级不等。结果显示，无论母语背景如何，高水平 EFL 学习者使用进行体构式的能产性都更高，也更接近英语母语者。研究结果还支持体假设：在所有学习者组中，进行体标记主要出现在活动动词上。就进行体构式的发展而言，在关联度最高的前 10 个动词中，原型性较低的动词类型所占比例随学习者水平提高而上升。然而，中日学习者在这一比例上的差异表明，不同母语背景下非原型形式—意义关联的复杂模式仍有待进一步考察。本研究有助于揭示母语迁移和学习者水平如何影响时体形态的习得。